Solaris Tramino officially presented in Jena

The official presentation of the Solaris Tramino Jena started on Ernst Abbe Square, where the vehicle was named "Erlangen" after Jena's twin city. The presentation, attended by Mayor of Jena Albrecht Schröter, Jenaer Nahverkehr CEO Udo Beran and Martin Gruber, member of the Solaris Bus & Coach executive board for Sales, After Sales, Marketing and Quality Assurance, attracted a large group of Jena residents.

"These elegant and modern vehicles, which are distinguished by their innovative design, will start service in January 2014. The purchase of five Solaris Tramino low-floor trams is a step forward not only in terms of our fleet design but also its technical standards. It is an investment conceived to improve our citizens’ mobility and at the same time the quality of living", said Udo Beran, Jenaer Nahverkehr CEO.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to present you our vehicle. The Solaris Tramino Jena are the first Polish trams which have been delivered to Germany. I would like to thank our partners from Jena for entrusting us with this order. I strongly believe that that our Tramino will ideally fit into the beautiful cityscape and soon become one of its recognizable elements", added Martin Gruber, member of the Solaris Bus & Coach executive board for Sales, After Sales, Marketing and Quality Assurance.

According to specification, Jena were supplied with three-section, fully low-floor, bidirectional trams. They are 29.3 metres long and 2.3 metres wide. These are the first GTx-type trams produced by Solaris. With their construction, the vehicles fit Jena’s network perfectly, not only in terms of its infrastructure of metre-gauge track and depots, but also the existing tram fleet.

Each of vehicles is equipped with an air-conditioning system for the driver’s cab and passenger area. The vehicles can fit a total of 168 passengers, 61 of them seated. Every section is based on one centrally-mounted bogie. Consequently, the weight of every section is evenly distributed, the vehicle is more stable and the forces transmitted through the articulations are much smaller. The Tramino Jena has four double doors per side, with a total width of 1300 mm each. One pair of them is located right behind the driver’s cab, where there is also the wheelchair space.

Jena is the first, but not the only tram order won by Solaris on the German market. In May 2012, Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG signed a contract for the delivery of fifteen Solaris Tramino low-floor trams. Additionally, the German operator held an option for another three Tramino, which was exercised a year later, in May 2013. As a result, the total ordered by Braunschweiger Verkehrs-AG amounts to 18 trams.

Additional information:

Solaris is a leading European manufacturer of innovative buses and urban rail vehicles. The family business, founded by Krzysztof and Solange Olszewski, has supplied almost 10,000 buses to customers in 26 countries since production started in 1996. Solaris specialises in state-of-the-art city and intercity buses and offers the world’s largest range of diesel-electric hybrid buses. Trolleybuses and electric buses provide public transport that is emission-free at the point of operation. The Solaris Tramino low-floor tram is built for attractive urban rail services.